12 killed in rocket attack in Afghanistan

Alfred de Montesquiou, Associated Press

Published
4:00 am PST, Tuesday, November 17, 2009

In this photo released by the French Army, French soldiers evacuate a victim after an attack in the Tagab Valley, Afghanistan, Monday Nov. 16, 2009. Insurgents fired two rockets Monday into a crowded market northeast of Kabul where the head of French forces in Afghanistan was holding a meeting, known as a shura. The attack killed 12 Afghan civilians and wounded at least another 38, the French military said. (AP Photo/Jean-Charles Thorel/ Sirpa Terre/French Army) ** NO SALES ** less

In this photo released by the French Army, French soldiers evacuate a victim after an attack in the Tagab Valley, Afghanistan, Monday Nov. 16, 2009. Insurgents fired two rockets Monday into a crowded market ... more

Photo: Jean-Charles Thorel, AP

Photo: Jean-Charles Thorel, AP

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In this photo released by the French Army, French soldiers evacuate a victim after an attack in the Tagab Valley, Afghanistan, Monday Nov. 16, 2009. Insurgents fired two rockets Monday into a crowded market northeast of Kabul where the head of French forces in Afghanistan was holding a meeting, known as a shura. The attack killed 12 Afghan civilians and wounded at least another 38, the French military said. (AP Photo/Jean-Charles Thorel/ Sirpa Terre/French Army) ** NO SALES ** less

In this photo released by the French Army, French soldiers evacuate a victim after an attack in the Tagab Valley, Afghanistan, Monday Nov. 16, 2009. Insurgents fired two rockets Monday into a crowded market ... more

Photo: Jean-Charles Thorel, AP

12 killed in rocket attack in Afghanistan

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Rockets slammed into a market northeast of Kabul on Monday, killing 12 civilians but missing their presumed target: a meeting between France's top general in Afghanistan and dozens of tribal elders and senior local officials.

The attack also wounded 38 people, 20 of them critically. The market was crowded with shoppers because Monday is bazaar day in Tagab, a sprawling town of mud brick fortress-like compounds and small fields along a river surrounded by the barren slopes and snowcapped peaks of the Hindu Kush mountain range.

Brig. Gen. Marcel Druart said the meeting, known as a shura, continued despite the attack to show that the Taliban cannot disrupt NATO's plans in a tense valley where both sides are competing for influence.

"The shura didn't stop, and it was in my opinion very important," Druart, who was unhurt, said at the NATO base in Nijrab, 5 miles north of Tagab.

The general was meeting with about 40 Afghan officials to discuss a major French offensive launched the previous day. The purpose of the operation is to secure the area for a planned road that would bypass the capital, Kabul, while moving in supplies from neighboring Pakistan.

The rockets struck about 90 minutes after the meeting convened in a building next to the main market of Tagab. They landed about 200 yards away, Druart said.

French forces immediately retaliated with artillery, shelling the rockets' launching site. NATO forces have bases in the broad Tagab Valley, but have had difficulty stabilizing the mountainous area connected by footpaths. In September, two French soldiers were killed and eight wounded in a roadside bomb attack in the Tagab area.

France has more than 3,000 troops stationed mainly north of Kabul in the Kapisa and Surobi areas.

By contrast, Druart estimated there were about 300 active militants in the Tagab area and side valleys of Kapisa province. Insurgents based here carry out quick strikes on targets that include Kabul, 30 miles away, then disappear into villages.